Fluffyland Craft & Sewing Blog

Category: Whales

greetings from narwhal-land!

velour plush whalesI have begun to refer to my room as the Narwhal Factory (others may argue for One-Woman-Sweatshop), considering that besides homework, eating, and sleeping (in that order), narwhals are basically what I do. I’m not complaining. I’m almost complaining. It’s stressful at times. But this is an awesome college job.

My craft show Saturday went well, for my first one. It was a slow day for all of us, but I got to make friends with some Cleveland crafters and learn tips from people who have done far more customer interaction than I have. It was wonderful to get real-life opinions from people… online, there are plenty of people who stop through the site without buying anything. Do they like, dislike, hate my products? But in real life, nobody can walk by a whale without commenting on its cuteness. Which always helps the ego get a little boost.

I also had lots of fun brainstorming. First of all, I would love to do more craft shows. It’s hard to find shows in Virginia that aren’t super-folky, but I’ll be on the lookout this summer. And I want to build a nifty display setup; you guys don’t get any pictures because the room was dimly lit and, while I had a decent setup for my means (ie Dorm Room and dishracks), it wasn’t picture perfect. Next time, promise. And I realized that I don’t have anything that boys, especially boys in the “can still get dragged to crafts shows age”, can buy. First order of business once school’s out: boy ipod cases. That’ll be fun.

I did sell something. Two somethings, actually. And since there weren’t too many people coming through, I was happy. And I made friends, so you should check out their stuff:

Judy of Modern Pixie
Stephanie of Stephie Lou
Jessica of Jewelry by J
Jen of Jeneration Design
and Nelleeta, but she doesn’t have a website…

Today I was thinking about going for a walk through Little Italy and exploring the little art galleries… but the skies are alternating between bright blue and drippy gray. A good day for staying in and sewing, which is just what I’ll do – once I get my room to be less of a mess.

happenings: a photo cache

in the last two weeks:

broken street and caution tape (post water main break)
surveyed damage from the water main break around the corner

pedro the magnificent - painting in the sun
savored the sunshine and began a painting of Pedro the Magnificent, taking advantage of the rare window light

pink boots and white snow
frolicked in the snow, including some tobogganing

winter and its wisdom
spent time reflecting on the beauty of winter and the value of silence on a newman club retreat

·   ·   ·

And Ash Wednesday yesterday marked the start of Lent: a season of repentance and renewal, a season to break bad habits and form new, good ones. For my Lenten promise I am giving up facebook, and since that will add lots of small pieces of time in my day, I am trying to be more available to people around me who may need little pieces of help. I figure there are so many little things that I think I’m too busy for… yet I have time to check my facebook once every hour for five minutes at a time? Time to switch up my priorities.

i gocco-ed!

sleepy, drooping eyes
the computer looks so bright
i think it’s bedtime.

gocco whale, all inky

I made my screen, printed about 30 little whales spouting hearts, then spent a good hour or so cleaning the screen! I definitely understand now why everyone hates cleaning the screens so much… no fun, and I made quite a mess. But the printing was so much fun! I’m hooked. (and of course, my first print was a whale.)

I’m always nervous to jump into things like this… especially with about $10 cost per screen, messing up is just so unacceptable! But for today I let myself have this one as a ‘practice’, and luckily it turned out great. They’re all a bit more “spongy” looking than I had expected, but I also made a design with a huge ink blob of printing area. I think in the future I’ll stick to more defined lines.

gocco whale print cards!

I still have ink all over my hands and I’m super tired, so I’ve been rubbing my eyes.. which of course has made them itchier. Wouldn’t be surprised if my eyes are bluer than usual in the morning.
(and of course i’m totally joking – i don’t think i actually got ink in my eyes.)

And my sewing lesson went wonderfully! We both had lots of fun, and she made some cute stuff: a pillowcase and a little zipper pouch. Tomorrow she’s going to work on a tote. I’m excited. I was very, very nervous this morning. And everything was fine. :)